Armored motor-car.



J. STANKUS.

ARMORED MOTOR CAR.

APPLICATION mzo MAY 8. 19:5.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

k JOHN STnNKus J. STANKUS.

ARMORED MOTOR CAR.

APPLICATION mm nus. 1915,

1,155,450. Patented Oct. 1915.

3 SHEETSSHH.T 2.

JOHN STANKUS attain,

J. STANKUS.

ARMORED MOTOR CAR.

APPLICATION FILED my a. 1915.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

anvw'kw JOHN STHNKUS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN STANKUS, OF POR'I'AGE, PENNSYLVANIA.

ARMORED MOTOR-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

Application filed May 8, 1915. Serial No. 26,831.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, JOHN STaNnUs, a citizenof the United States, residing at Portage, in the county of Cambria andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Armored Motor- Cars, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to vehicles, and articula rly to armored motor carsdesign for war purposes. 7

The primary object of my invention is to provide a motor car of thecharacter above stated, of such construction that the vital parts of thecar will be thoroughly protected from projectiles, and further soconstructed that it will carry a rotatably mounted gun and that theoperator of the gain will be entirely protected from the enemys fire.

A further object of my invention is to provide, in connection with thearmored car, a plurality of guns mounted for rotation upon a commonsupport, and provide means whereby these guns may be fired eithertogether or singly as the operator may desire.

Still another object of the invention is to so construct the car that itmay run either over ordinary roads or over railroad tracks, and toprovide means, when the car is running over railroad tracks, wherebytelegraphic messages may be received from the rails.

Still another object of my invention is to so mount the guns within therotatable supporting member that the guns may be detached from thesupporting member and used in an ordinary manner and separated from thecar, and to provide means whereby the power of the car may be used todraw the guns back to the car and used as means for assisting theelevation of the guns to the turret. 1

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my armored motor car partly broken away;Fig. 2 1s a plan view of the armored motor car moving on a track; Fig. 3is a side elevation of the car when operated on a track; Fig. 4 is atransverse section through the rear of the machine, looking toward theforward end thereof; Fig. 5 1s a side elevation of one of the wheels,the housing therefor being in section; Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionalview through the wheel shown in Fig. 5 and the housing; Fig. 7 is adetailed view showing the action of the rapid fire guns separate fromthe car; Fig. 8 is a detailed elevation of the winding drum and clutchtherefor; Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which theguns are fired, either together or separately.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designate the body of the motor car whichis made of armor plate and has an inclined hood so as to deflectprojectiles as much as possible. The engine is supported upon the frameof the car in any suitable manner and inclosed within the armored bodythereof and is of any suitable character. This engine is geared with therear driving wheels 3 in any suitable or usual manner. The forwardwheels 4 are the steering wheels and are mounted upon an axle 5 by meansof knuckles 6. These steering wheels are connected to a steering post 7in the usual manner. All of the wheels are protected by housings 8 whichextend outward from the sides of the body 2 and over the upper portionof the wheels, and to these housings are detachably or hingedlyconnected the downwardly extending plates 9. The rear end 10 of the body2 is downwardly and outwardly inclined, and extending rearward from thelower end of the rear end of the body is the platform 11 upon which thegun operator stands. This platform 11 is extended around the rearwheels, as at 12, these portions of the platform being supported bymeans of the plates 9. The sides of the car are also provided with theoutstanding platforms or running boards 13 to which the platforms 12 areconnected or upon which the ends of the platform 12 rests. Doors 14 areprovided in the side walls of the car body, and a door 14 is provided inthe rear wall of the car body so that access may be readily had to theinterior of the car. These doors are of course formed of armor plate andlie substantially flush with the exterior face of the body wall.

The hood of the automobile, which is designated 15, is protected by theside walls of the armored body thereof and also by a transverselyrounded wall 16 which is cut away as at 17 to provide a sight opening.The wall 16 is of such form as to cause any projectile striking thefront of the automobile to be deflected upward and so away from theopening 17, the angle of the outer face of this wall being such as todeflect a projectile upward above the guns mounted upon the top of thecar. The rounded wall 16 has a door 16 for access to the engine.

Rigidly mounted upon the top of the car is an annular supporting member,desig nated 18, and rotatably mounted within this annular member is agun supporting member 19 which is recessed to engage and support theaxle 20 of a gun carriage so that the gun carriage will rotate with themember 19. Mounted upon the gun carriage are the rapid fire guns 22 ofany usual or suitable character, these guns and the gun carriage beingprovided with means whereby the guns may be tilted to change theirelevation. The firing mechanism of the gun carriage may be actuated bymeans of an electric current generated by a dynamo disposed within thebody 2 and driven from the engine, and preferably means are provided forfiring either one of the guns separately or both together, this meansbeing shown in Fig. 9 as a switch 23 which is common to both of the gunsand the switches 24 and 25, the switches 24 and 25 being disposed eachin a conductor 26 leading from a dynamo or other source of electriccurrent, while the switch 23 is disposed in branches of the conductors.

It will be seen that with this construction the guns may be removed fromthe rotatable carrier 19 and may be shifted on their own wheels 26, andfor the purpose of hauling the guns back to the motor and assisting inthe elevation of the guns a cable 27 may be provided attached to thecarriage of the gun and extending into the body of the automobile andwound upon a winding drum 28. This winding drum is mounted upon a powershaft operatively connected to the engine of the automobile to be driventhereby, and this drum may be thrown into or out of engagement with thepower shaft by means of a clutch 30 operated in any suitable manner.(See Fig. 8.)

In order to provide for the motor car running either upon roads or upona railroad track, I form each of the wheels of the automobile with aflange 31 and provide a demountable tire 32 which is adapted to bedisposed between this flange 31 and the outer face of the wheel anddetachably held in engagcment therewith. F or this purpose I haveprovided the clips 33 which are pivoted upon bolts 34 passing throughthe wheel, these clips being rotatable in a positionvto engage the tire32 and hold it in place. This tire is preferably a solid tire, though Ido not wish to be limited to this. The nuts on the bolts 34 are turnedup so tightly as to prevent any rotation of the clips 33, but when it isdesired to shift the automobile onto a railroad track the bolts may bereleased and the clips 33 turned so that the tire 32 may be drawn 01flaterally.

In order that when running over the rails of the railway track telegramsmay be received by the operators of the automobile, I provide one ormore shoes, designated 35, each shoe being mounted upon an upwardlyextending member 36 and these shoes being electrically connected tosuitable telegraph instruments disposed in the interior of theautomobile body, the wire from the shoes 35 leading up to the member 36and into the interior of the body. When the automobile is running overroads, however, the

members 36 and shoes 35 may be raised as by providing the member 36 witha plurality of holes 37 and bolts or other suitable fastening membersextending through said holes and engaging a bracket 38.

While I have illustrated certain details of construction which I regardas preferable, I do not wish to be limited to all of these details as itis obvious that many changes might be made without departing from thespirit of the invention.

It will be obvious that with my motor car the guns can be turned aroundto any directiondesired and the operator can go from one side of the carto the other around the latforms and thus can shoot from the guns in anydirection desired. The operator can also enter the interior of thearmored car through the rear door. Of course the guns may be firedtoward the rear if the vehicle is movin ahead.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an armored motor car, an armored body inclosing the steering andoperating mechanism of the car, the top of the body at the rear end ofthe body having a fixed upwardly. projecting annular member, a rotatableannular member supported upon the fixed annular member and havingupwardly extending lateral cheeks and a gun including a wheeledcarriage, the axle of the wheels being adapted to be engaged with saidcheeks, the rear end of the armored body being provided with a platformextending around three sides of the body and below the gun whereby theoperator of the gun may direct the latter from the platform and beprotected by the armored body.

2. In an armored motor car, an armored body, a fixed annular membersupported upon the top of the body, an annular member having rotativeengagement with the fixed annular member and disposed therein and havingvertically extending recesses, and a gun supported by the innerrotatable member having axles normally disposed within the recesses ofthe rotatable member and having wheels upon which the gun is supported.

3. In an armored motor car, an armored body ii nclosing the driving. andsteering mechanism of the car, the rear end of the body having aplatform disposed around three sides of the body, a fixed annular membermounted upon the top of the body-adjacent the rear end thereof, arotatable annular member disposed upon the fixed annular member androtatable thereon, a gun including a carriage detachably mounted uponthe rotatable member and having wheels normally supporting the carriage,the platform providing a place for the operator of the gun to stand,thearmored body acting to shield the operator.

4. In an armored motor car. having supporting wheels, a platformdisposed on three sides of the car, a housing extending over the wheels,plates supported upon said housing and extending down on the exteriorfaces of the wheels, and platforms carried by said plates and alinedwith the forms on the sides of the body.

5. In an armored motor car, flanged supporting wheels, road engagingtires detachably mounted upon the wheels and when in place extendingvout to the peri heries of the flanges thereof, shoes mounte upon thecar for vertical movement and adapted to engage the railway rails andreceive current therefrom, springs normally urging said shoes downwardinto engagement with a rail, means for supporting said shoes in a raisedposition against the action of said spring to thereby carry the shoes inspaced platrelation to the rail and electrically actuated signalingdevices disposed within the car and electrically connected to saidshoes.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN 'STANKUS.

Witnesses:

T. B. WRIGHT, B. M. FERRITEBM

